UK and US markets

[walfice]

Since using this forum I have noticed a couple of things. You guys in the US have brands which are almost unheard of here in the UK, such as Sonartec and Nickent. Other brands such as Tour Edge are beginning to grow over here. While the likes of Ben Hogan, Nicklaus and Macgregor are almost dead. The main difference though is price. A Scotty Cameron putter here is around £179 ($275), Titleist D2 £199 ($305) that is a price drop from £249 since the new line came out, Mizuno MP-57 3-pw £500 ($765). Am I right in thinking that listed prices in the US do not include sales tax? (the listed price in the UK is the final price).
Not sure there is a point to this post, just thought I would share this with you (have any of you US guys noticed brands in the UK that you do not have in the US?)

[myk]

Nope, listed prices in the U.S. generally do not include sales tax.


Mike

[tjy355]

  myk said:

Nope, listed prices in the U.S. generally do not include sales tax.

Correct. Another point being that sales tax varies state to state, and even city to city. The final price depends where you buy.

[Q.Q.Quillume]

  walfice said:

...You guys in the US have brands which are almost unheard of here in the UK, such as Sonartec and Nickent...

Sonartec is out of business; I guess it's been several months now, maybe almost a year.

[Fraser]

  walfice said:

The main difference though is price. A Scotty Cameron putter here is around £179 ($275), Titleist D2 £199 ($305) that is a price drop from £249 since the new line came out, Mizuno MP-57 3-pw £500 ($765).

You're also looking at a rather favourable exchange rate now. The Camerons MSRP is $299+tax, and for new top of the line drivers you're looking at $600+tax, in some cases even $700+tax which even at $2:£1 isn't a mile away from the UK prices.

As a British expat who still goes home quite a few times a year I'm pretty good or knowing which things to buy and golf clubs don't rank high on the 'much cheaper in the US' rankings.

[RocketSauce]

yikes! i havent seen a $700 driver yet in any of the shops i go to ($499 is the highest I've seen: FT-iQ). but i havent really noticed any brands that you use over in the UK that we dont here (what are some?). i really wish Sonartec didnt go out of business because they made the best fairway woods i have ever hit (see signature) as well as some really nice milled face wedges (with yo-yo grooves) too. im surprised you dont see Nickent over there though, didnt know that...

[glebert]

I always thought it was interesting that Ram in the UK has a completely different lineup than in the US (at least last time I checked) with more of a midrange price point rather than the bottom of the barrel stuff they are selling here these days.

[golf_junkie27]

The three that I can think of are George Spirits, Vega Golf and OnOff. I realize that they are huge in Asia but they are pretty popular in the UK. Very few, if any, retail outlets carry them in NY.

[RocketSauce]

yeah, Ram is a company i wish would get back into making nice forged players irons again like they used to. i love the older companies that used to make really good irons like Ram, Maxfli (A10's, Australian Blades, Revolutions), and even the Japanese market Dunlop forged irons. I wonder if they will ever stop with the Walmart crap and start making decent irons again. Spalding/Top Flite is another one. I have a set of Spalding Tour Editions, brand new still in the box that are just gorgeous. I also have a set of Top Flite Custom Made irons (same model Trevino used) that are still brand new/never hit. Very nice forged players irons, but sadly Spalding and Top Flite are just crap these days too

[Fraser]

  golf_junkie27 said:

The three that I can think of are George Spirits, Vega Golf and OnOff. I realize that they are huge in Asia but they are pretty popular in the UK.

I've never heard of them

[Surefire]

Vega are definately pretty popular in the UK. Off the top of my head I'd also think MD Golf and BenRoss could fit into this category.

Some golf companies price fix so you pay the same price wherever you are in the world. However I'd say that when the exchange rate was $2 to £1 quite a few clubs were much cheaper in the US.

For example I bought some custom fit CG12s for $100 each, which was just over £50 at the time. In the UK they were selling for £75 in standard fit.

[misty_mountainhop]

  golf_junkie27 said:

The three that I can think of are George Spirits, Vega Golf and OnOff. I realize that they are huge in Asia but they are pretty popular in the UK. Very few, if any, retail outlets carry them in NY.

Popular? Not sure about that. Nice gear though....

if you can afford them .

[Surefire]

Another company that springs to mind is Orka. I don't think I have seen these in the US, but I'm not 100% sure on that.